Mount St. Mary's outlasts Ga. State in OT, 97-92

EMMITSBURG -- This was the kind of game that can help a struggling basketball squad.

Mount St. Mary's was the beneficiary last night at Knott Arena, outlasting Georgia State, 97-92, in overtime to win its Holiday Tournament for the 10th time in 12 seasons.

It was only the third victory of the season for the Mountaineers, who have not been cohesive on offense and have been suicidal with turnovers.

"This really helps our confidence," said Mount St. Mary's coach Jim Phelan. "We had to get a win against a decent team. I like to think this can turn any negative thinking around."

Georgia State, playing its third overtime in four games, had a chance to win in regulation but used more than three seconds to get into shooting position from their end. With the score at 84-84, Mark Thompson's basket did not beat the buzzer.

The Mountaineers never were behind in the overtime. Tournament MVP Chris Cavanagh, the team's 7-foot center, hit a 16-foot jumper to gain the lead, and two free throws by Phil Galvin and a breakaway hoop by Chad Stull made it 90-84.

Georgia State had 10 three-pointers after halftime and kept bombing away in the overtime, with Thompson making the last one with 43 seconds left to narrow the Panthers' deficit to 93-92.

But two foul shots by Stull and Galvin's steal as the Panthers tried to get the ball to Thompson for a three-pointer stowed it away. Kevin Booth knocked in two free throws for the final margin.

Booth and Galvin joined Cavanagh on the all-tournament team with Phillip Luckydo, Zavian Smith and Thompson of Georgia State.

Georgia State (4-5) hit 13 of 27 three-point tries overall, a school record for connections, but the Mount shot 53.3 percent from the field (16-for-30) in both halves and controlled the backboards to overcome 27 turnovers.

"We did it at home, in a close game , in overtime," said Phelan. "I was getting leery of what we'd do in those situations. We got a good effort from a lot of people. This will help us."

Phelan said his team "had to prove to ourselves" it could survive in such a pressure situation.

In the opener, Drexel never trailed and methodically defeated the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore, 87-56.

The Hawks are 0-10 overall and 0-4 since Bobby Wilkerson took over from Bob Hopkins as head coach.

Drexel (2-6) shot 50 percent in the first half and capitalized on 10 Maryland-Eastern Shore turnovers to take command, going on to its first victory since Nov. 29.

The margin steadily widened throughout the second half for the Dragons, who lost to Georgia State in the first round.

Jonathan Raab led Drexel with 22 points and 11 rebounds, as the starting front line of Raab, Warren Williams and Dan Leahy combined for 50 points.